Sandra
Lockwood and US potter
Simon
Levin (external link) have
supervised the construction of a woodfired kiln at the Bili Bala
pottery, located at Manatuto in East Timor. The pots will be
earthenware and initially will be handbuilt by the East Timorese
participants in the project. It is hoped that funding for wheels will
be available at a later stage. The kiln was designed by Simon Levin
and the project is funded by US Aid and World Vision. One aim of the
project is to produce ceramic water filters with porosity qualities
which will allow passage of water at a practical rate while
preventing the passage of bacteria. The pores in the fired clay body
must have diameters smaller than the bacteria, and the size of the
pores is dependent on the firing temperature and the particle sizes
in the clay from which the clay body is developed. For the main clay
used there is relatively narrow range of particle sizes, and the
particles are small. Tony Flynn, from the Centre for Science and
Engineering of Materials at the Australian National University, is an
expert on the porosity of ceramic materials and has been involved in
testing the clay samples Sandy has sent from East Timor. The hope is
that by the addition of a proportion of another clay with appropriate
particle size distribution a clay body can be developed which will
have the right properties over the range of temperatures provided by
the kiln in a typical firing. The rewards for success are high in
that not only will the people of East Timor be less affected by water
bourne diseases but also the technique for developing a suitable clay
body will be applicable in other parts of the world, using
adaptations of local ceramic techniques.